This invention relates generally to the input and output of data from a computer, particularly, computers having the ability to send and receive data from a cellular telephone.
Personal computers and cellular telephones have become indispensable tools for managing one""s affairs in the contemporary business environment. Cellular telephones, because they are mobile, allow the user to send and receive phone calls from anywhere within the range of a cellular transmission tower. This greatly facilitates communication since parties are no longer tied to desk phones or pay phones. Contemporary cellular phones support many features to optimize their use, such as internal memory to support voicemail and email, and synchronization interfaces so that they may be connected to a computer. A list of callers and the contents of voicemail or email messages may be displayed in the phone""s display screen, and a typical phone possesses buttons that allow the user to scroll through a list and select a number or person to call. Many phones will also support a task list of reminders for the user that may be displayed in the display screen. Because of the limited number of keys on a phone, the user will usually enter this information on a personal computer and then download it to the cellular phone via the synchronization connection. However, the memory on the cellular phone is limited, and this in turn limits the amount of information that may be downloaded to the phone, as well as the length of the voicemail or email messages it may store. The synchronization of data between cellular phones and personal computers is well known in the art. One type of synchronization is the HotSync technology by 3Com.
The above methods of entering information to the cellular phone require keyboard entry by the user. An easier method would be for the user to talk directly to the phone, and have the phone interpret the speaker""s words. Cellular phones, however, do not currently possess the computing power to recognize speech and convert the audio signal to text. On the other hand, such software technology is available for personal computers and is well known in the art. Furthermore, computers possess the memory for maintaining lists with more information, such as lists of incoming phone calls along with messages of essentially unlimited length, and detailed task lists.
Thus, there is a need for a method and a system to integrate a cellular telephone with a personal computer so that the computer can handle the memory-intensive and computational-intensive tasks that the phone cannot handle, and for the computer and phone to interact and communicate with each other so that the phone may access the data stored on the computer and the user may control the phone by voice.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that satisfies the need to easily manage the functionality of a cellular telephone by means of a personal computer. In particular, the present invention is directed to an interface apparatus to which a cellular telephone may be attached so that it may communicate with the apparatus and a host computer. The invention is also directed to a means for a cellular telephone attached to the interface to perform as a speakerphone. One feature of the invention is a means and apparatus for maintaining a list of incoming phone calls, including the name and number of the caller, the time of the call, any message left by the caller, and a means for automatically displaying this list on the cellular telephone and replaying the messages. Another feature is a means for the attached cellular phone to display the number and caller of an incoming non-cellular phone call. Additional features of the present invention include means for the automatic dialing of outgoing calls, managing conference calls, and the maintenance of a task list. The invention also includes speech recognition means for voice control of the apparatus and of selecting outgoing phone calls and maintaining a task list.